What's in a name?

By Staff
Melissa Cason
What is in a name?
It's the label we are given at birth by our parents so the world will know how to address us. But what if it is more than that?
What if our name is a determining factor of how our personalities will develop? What if our names not only give us a label but an insight on who we are on the inside?
I began asking these questions this week after a brief conversation with a fellow Relay for Life committee member.
We were talking about her granddaughter, and how she has lots of energy and is very rambunctious. Her granddaughter and my youngest son, Cameron, have the same name. As we talked about the children, I quickly began to realize that my Cameron and her Cameron may indeed have similar personality traits.
So I began thinking about my Cameron's namesake, and I have come to the conclusion that a name is much more than a label-it tells us who the person is beneath the surface.
My Cameron is named for a high school friend, Cameron Langford. I will never forget the day I figured out Cameron Langford was alive.
Since I went to a fairly large school, I had not had classes with Cameron until that day.
It was ninth grade year in Home Economics, and our teacher was calling roll. When she came to Cameron's name, I remember thinking what a weird name that kid had and I looked around to see the person who matched the name. And, there he was-the person that would one day be named our class clown.
As our education progressed, Cameron and I became good friends.
Our junior year, we had every class together.
I pretty much told him everything because we were spending six hours a day and lunch together. I would talk about my dates and he would tell me about his girlfriend. We'd tell jokes, and make each other laugh while eating Skittles, his favorite candy.
I'll admit that we both choked on Skittles several times during that year.
By the end of the year, we had become very close, and those memories are still with me today.
But, his personality was the one thing that stuck out in my mind. He was, and still is, crazy, happy and wonderful. That's what I loved about him then and today.
Our senior year, we didn't have any classes together but we still talked on occasion. As I said before, he was named our class clown, and appropriately so.
After I moved away, fell in love and married, and began having babies, I wanted to name my son after this fond memory. By doing so, my Cameron is very full of energy, always into everything and a total cutup just like his namesake.
So when ever I get mad because my child in being annoying and getting on my nerves, I will try to remember that I did this to myself by naming my child after someone so outrageous.
As for the other Cameron mentioned earlier, I don't know where her parents came up with her name but if I am right about names connecting personalities, I am sure they are exhausted by the time she goes to sleep every night.